'Addtnl 15k tonnes Uranium established in AP, Raj, Meghalaya'

MUMBAI: India will have a comfortable position in its indigenous uranium resources in the coming decade as it has established an additional 15,000 tonnes of uranium resources in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Meghalaya, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission Dr Srikumar Banerjee said.

This additional resource has taken the country's total Uranium resources to a little more than 1,40,000 tonnes of Triuranium Octaoxide (U3O8), Banerjee said at the Founder's day of BARC on Friday.

Triuranium Octaoxide is an oxide form of Uranium which is the most common chemical found in nature.

"Promising Uranium anomalies have also been located in the north Delhi Fold Belt and Lachhri in Rajasthan, Tertiary basin in Uttrakand, Mahakoshal meta sediments in Madhya Pradesh and IOG Basin in Orissa," Banerjee said.

Mohuldih Uranium Project in the Saraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhan and Tummalapalle Uranium Mining and Milling Project in Andhra Pradesh and Exploratory Mining at Gogi in Karnataka are advancing, he said.

Also the pre-project activities for Uranium Ore mining and milling projects at Lambapur in Andhra Pradesh and Kylleng Pyndengsohiong, Mawthabah (KPM) in Meghalaya are on, Banerjee said.

Similarly on the fabrication side, Nuclear Fuel complex of the Department of Atomic Energy has made highest ever production of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) fuel bundles, zirconium sponge, PHWR fuel tubes, rod materials and Niobium metal was achieved.